LGBTI people strip off to show off their bodies

‘I have had a six-year hiatus from professional photoshoots. But when I was told that we would be showcasing all body types from the LGBTI community, it made me want to pick up my camera again.

Inspired by an incredible set of people who were ready to bare all, to empower others to feel comfortable about their bodies – the shoot began:

‘Some people were more nervous than others, but their commitment, goals, and reasons for taking part were truly inspiring.

‘Now is the time to show how fabulous and diverse we are, not just in our sexuality, but in our minds and bodies.’

Georgia

‘I think if people just worried about themselves, and loved themselves, it might be a little bit of a better world.’

Mufseen

‘I wanted to take part in this project because growing up I didn’t have many role models to look up to in the gay community. A lot of stuff in gay magazines or gay media is always white men, muscly bodies, and I’m none of those.’

Adrian

’10 years ago I never would have done this. I think that’s a change of attitude, mind, and confidence. Something which only comes from being happy with whatever body shape you are.’

Malik

‘I don’t think there’s a real body. Each person is built in a different shape and size. I think, we as a society, now need to stop focusing on how people are built.’

Anthony

‘Being a black person you need to have that internalized confidence. When I was younger, I didn’t like being darker skinned because I was teased. But as I’ve got older, I realize that’s who I am, and I accept that.’

Kristopher

‘For me, confidence is the biggest thing, and I think no matter what size or shape you are, that’s what makes someone sexy to me. I think that’s what a lot of people overlook.’

Ben M

James

‘We’ve been programmed to think if you’re trans you need to want to alter yourself and that you’re only valid and you’re only allowed to exist and be appreciated if you alter yourself. Actually, sometimes you don’t need to.’

Roy

‘After I see a bit of candy in front of me, somebody who I think is beautiful on the outside; I wonder if that beauty extends on the inside.’

Ben W

“I wanted to take part to give me something to focus on. I believe people should feel confident in the way they look.’

Jack Arthur

‘Day to day, we are all humans with different lives and with different journeys. It sounds so corny, but we have to enjoy ourselves.’

Corry

‘To get comfortable with my body, I just decided that I was going to be comfortable. It sounds dumb, but I stood in front of the mirror every day and looked at myself until I liked it.’

Liz

‘My Adam’s apple is pretty a bit more pronounced than most women’s. But not wanting to be in that kind of all women’s bracket, there’s always a little bit of conflict there.’

Matt

‘I was nervous at first, but I’m thrilled to have taken part. Everybody is real, and we get spoon fed this meal of “what people should look like,” and I want people to get that perfect image out of peoples mindset. I’m confident about my body because I focus on my inner me, rather than how I look on the outside.’

Stefanos Dimoulas

‘I’m not the hottest person in the world. A guy like me gets a lot of compliments and a lot of positive feedback; it doesn’t mean that this positive feedback is what I believe about myself.’

Michael

‘We see other people that look that kind of similar to ourselves and think they look great. And we’re fine with that. But we don’t feel the same way about ourselves.’

Riccardo

‘I had this accident almost three years ago where I was crushed by a lorry, and my pelvis got fractured. It’s thanks to that I came out to my family; I decided to come out to my family because there was a point where I have died…

‘And yeah, and now I have these scars and sometimes when I’m at the gym I think they’re going to see my scars if I do this exercise, but two seconds later, I think OK, it’s not something I have to be ashamed of because that’s just the result of a surgery and I’m alive to show them, and I’m not really as ashamed of them as, yeah, that’s what I think.’

Jack

‘From past relationships, I’ve had a lot of bad experiences where I got a lot of verbal abuse from it, and they would pick out small things about my body that they didn’t like… I think they would call me a lot of names, like “marshmallow.”

‘It’s annoying that something like this keeps sticking in your head.’

Leonie

‘It breaks my heart every day to see young people on social media posting about how they need to lose weight and how they need to tone up and how they need to look better.

‘I find that society has gotten to a point where that’s not healthy anymore.’

Mohamed

‘I don’t think I’m there yet feeling, good about my body confidence, but doing this shoot has been part of my journey towards that. I would prefer to look better but if I can’t then I want to at least build my confidence.’

Pablo

‘Two years ago I was in an abusive relationship, and it left me with very low self-esteem. It’s taken me a long time to build my confidence back up again.’

Simon

‘Unrealistic photos make us feel worse about ourselves because we judge ourselves against them giving us a false view of how we should look – and like RuPaul says if you can’t love yourself how can you love anyone else?’

Gay Star News uses cookies to track your browser behaviour on our site and provide you with ads and other marketing campaigns that may be relevant to you. By continuing to use the site you’re letting us know you are happy with the terms of our privacy policy.

Privacy Preference Center

Consent Management

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when Gay Star News collects personal information. It applies to information we collect about:
– Visitors to our websites;
– Complainants and other individuals in relation to a data protection or freedom of information complaint or enquiry;
– People who use our services, eg who subscribe to our newsletter or join our Urgent Action Network;
– Job applicants and our current and former employees and freelancers;
– Third-party advertisers.

Marketing

Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across the website. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third-party advertisers.